Chess Trivia VI
The Golden Knights is the United States open correspondence chess championship. It was first held in 1943, then called the Victory Tournament. In 1944, it was called the Postal Chess Championship. In 1945, it was finally named the Golden Knights tournament. In 1946, the second annual Golden Knights Postal Chess Championship had 1,456 entrants. It was the largest entry list in any U.S. tournament up to that time. First prize was $250. It was won by Richard L. Aikin. (source: Chess Review, July 1952, p. 196)
In 1949, Lt. Col. Jose Joaquin Araiza (1900-1971) won the championship of México for the 15th consecutive time. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1950, p. 4)
From 1947 to 1949, an Australian Antarctic Expedition played chess by shortwave radio with a South African expedition on Marron Island, 1,400 miles distant. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1950, p. 5)
In 1950, Sammy Reshevsky, who was awarded the title of International Grandmaster that year, was invited to the Candidates tournament in Budapest. However, the U.S. State Department decreed that American citizens should not travel to Hungary. He was barred from attending by the U.S. State Department due to the Cold War. Reshevsky then conducted a national chess exhibition tour.
In 1950, there were 216,000 participants on the People’s Chess Tournament in Romania. By the end of the year, it boiled down to 22 finalists. (source: Chess Review, Sep 1950, p. 263)
On March 2, 1951, James Bolton (1928-2004), 22, was arrested in Connecticut’s first military draft evasion case under the new Selective Service Act after the outbreak of the Korean War. He testified he believed the law was unconstitutional and lost. He was sentenced to one year and one day in jail. Bolton was the winner of the 1950 New England chess championship. He won the Connecticut State Championship in 1953, 1957, and 1966. (source: Bridgeport, Connecticut Telegram, March 3, 1951 and June 5, 1951, and New York Times, March 4, 1951, p. 60)
In 1951, the Southern Chess Administration (SCA) was split on the policy of allowing blacks to play in their tournaments. An SCA organization in Asheville, NC allowed blacks to play chess in their clubs and events. An SCA organization in Tampa favored a restrictive policy designed to exclude blacks. Each SCA organization claimed to be acting legally and officially for the SCA. (source: Chess Review, July 1951, p. 196)
Gisela Kahn Gresser (1906-2000) won the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship 9 times from 1944 (a perfect score) to 1969 (at age 63). In 1963, she became the first woman in the U.S. to gain a master title, with a rating of 2211. In 1937, she won the Charles Elliott Norton Fellowship at Harvard for Greek archeological research. She was an expert in hieroglyphics. She went on many safaris, even in her 80s.
In 1951, a new record for rapid transit blindfold play was set by George Koltanowski in San Francisco when a played 50 opponents consecutively at a speed of 10 seconds a move. After 8 hours and 45 minutes, he won 43, drew 5, and lost 2. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1952, p. 6)
In March 1952, chess master Pal Benko (1928-2019) was arrested and imprisoned for 16 months in a Hungarian concentration camp for trying to escape from East Berlin and defect to the West. He was accused of being an American spy. When they searched his apartment, they found mail devoted to his postal chess games. The police assumed that the notation was secret code, and they demanded to know how to break the code.
In 1952, Sammy Reshevsky visited 20 cities from coast to coast. He played over 600 games in simultaneous exhibitions and only lost twice. At simultaneous exhibition, he won 24 and drew 8. The exhibition was attended by many film celebrities, including Humphrey Bogart and Walter Slezak. The event was sponsored by MGM producer and director, G. Reinhart. (source: Chess Review, Mar 1952, p. 67)
In 1952, the U.S. Department of State prepared a film for Central European distribution on cultural aspects of life in Greenwich Village. They chose the Marshall Chess Club as one of the Village’s chief centers of intellectual activity. (source: Chess Review, Oct 1952, p. 294)
In 1952, Richard Bauer won the B class event in the Buffalo City Chess Championship while playing from an iron lung. He was stricken with polio in 1949. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1953, p. 7)
In 1953, the USCF awarded the 1954 U.S. Open to Hollywood, California. A month later, the USCF Tournament Committee rescinded that award. The reason for the change was a fundamental disagreement between the Committee and the Hollywood sponsors. The Hollywood plan was to have the Open in a number of sections. The sponsors were to raise a large prize fund so as to guarantee cash prizes and extra money for the Master Section to attract master chess players. Prizes for the other sections were to be trophies only. The plan was rejected by the USCF, and they awarded the site to New Orleans (won by Larry Evans). The U. S. Open in New Orleans banned black chess players from participating.
In 1953, Dutch Grandmaster Jan Donner (1927-1988) won the Cheltenham Open Chess Championship in England. Donner was so late for the prize-giving ceremony that the Mayor of Cheltenham gave the first prized to a local charity. (source: Chess Review, Oct 1953, p. 291)
In 1953, a new chess column, the first in Pittsburgh since 1916, made a weekly appearance in the Saturday issues of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. It was conducted by T. M. Cherington, who wrote the chess column until 1960. (source: Chess Review, Jan 1954, p. 6)
From June 16 to June 24, 1954, a chess match was played between a team from the USSR and a team from the USA at the Hotel Roosevelt in Manhattan. It was the first time the Soviet chess team played on United States soil. The match drew 1,100 spectators, more than any other previous chess event in U.S. history. The match was refereed by Hans Kmoch (1894-1973). The USSR team won 20-12. Bobby Fischer, age 11, attended all four rounds and kept score of all the games.
In 1954, Dr. Edward Lasker (1885-1981), president of the Marshall Chess Club and an International Master, was elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. In 1921, he invented a mechanical breast pump, which saved many premature infants’ lives. (source: Chess Review, Feb 1954, p. 37)
In 1954, California chess master wrote a letter to Governor Goodwin Knight, pleading for a stay of execution of Wesley Robert Wells. Wells, a black convict who was serving a life sentence for manslaughter, was charged with assault upon a prison guard and was sentenced to death. Gross based his appeal on the favorable impression of Wells he obtained as a result of correspondence chess with the prisoner. Wells was in prison for 46 years and won parole in 1974. (source: Chess Review, June 1954, p. 163)
In 1954, Leslie R. Sears, a Cape Cod chess enthusiast, was stricken with a heart attack during a match game. He had enough strength to whisper, “I get a draw, don’t I?” just before taken to a hospital where he died. (source: Chess Review, June 1954, p. 164)
Clare Benedict (1870-1961) was an American writer and patron. She was a great-niece of James Fenimore Cooper. In 1953, she set up the Clare Benedict Cup as an annual international chess tournament of national teams (4-man team) from Western and Northern Europe. It was held until 1979 when the funds ran out. The tournament was usually held in Vevey, Switzerland. It started put with 6 countries. (source: Chess Review, June 1955, p. 163)
Former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1888-1959) claimed that he was a college expert in chess strong enough to play blindfold but curtailed his chess activity when he found the game getting too powerful a hold over him. He often bragged about his mastery of chess. (source: Chess Review, Sep 1955, p. 259)
In April 1955, a group of Russian chess players, stationed at a weather station on an Arctic ice flow, defeated a chess team in Moscow in an extended match played by short wave radio. The Arctic team won, scoring 16.5-10.5 after 5 months of playing. (source: Daily Reporter, Dover, Ohio, Apr 21, 1955)
In 1955, Hans Lenz, a candidate for the Bundestag in Germany, campaigned with an election poster showing him seated at a chessboard with the caption, “Make a good move – vote for Hans Lenz!” Herr Lenz was elected. (source: Chess Review, Sep 1955, p. 263)
In April 1955, one of the wedding gifts for Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly was an expensive antique chess set presented by employees of the Monte Carlo Casino. All of their children played chess. (source: Chess Review, May 1956, p. 133)
In 1956, Isaac Kashdan (1905-1985) appeared on Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life. The episode aired February 9, 1956. Groucho called him “Mr. Ash Can” throughout the show. Kashdan’s partner was Helen Schwartz, the mother of Tony Curtis. Kashdan told Groucho that it was pretty hard to cheat in chess. Groucho responded, “If I can’t cheat, forget it. The only fun I have in any game is cheating.” They failed to win any money and did not say the secret word.
On June 13, 1956, 13-year-old Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) appeared with Arlene Francis (1907-2001) on “Home Show” over the NBC Network. It was his first appearance on TV. The “Home Show” was on TV from 1954 to 1957. (source: Chess Review, June 1956, p. 165)
In 1956, about 3,000 boys and girls played in the 17th Annual All-City Junior Chess Tournament in Milwaukee. At the time, it was the biggest American chess meet on record. Over 40,000 young people have played in this event during the past 16 years. (source: Chess Review, Sep 1956, p. 262)
In the June 1956 issue of Playboy magazine, there were several articles about chess. One article was Called “Checkmate” by Herman Leonard, and another article was called “A Short, Happy History of Chess” by Al Horowitz. It also had a short story by Loring Mandel (1928-2020) called the “Last Gambit.” Another article was called “Five Ways to Improve Your Game” by Al Horowitz.
In December 1956, the University of Chicago won the U. S. Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. It was the first time since 1921 that a college outside New York City has won this event. The first Intercollegiate team championship took place in 1892, won by Columbia University. (source: Chess Review, Feb 1957, p. 35)
In 1957, Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) played Donald Byrne (1930-1936) in a match in New York. In the first game of the match, Byrne's flag had fallen, and Reshevsky offered a draw. Byrne accepted, and the draw stood, because Reshevsky did not claim a loss on time after the flag fell before the game ended. In the second game, Byrne's flag fell again, and again Reshevsky did not notice it. Then Reshevsky's flag fell. Neither player noticed that both flags had fallen. However, Mrs. Reshvsky, sitting in the audience, remembering that is was important to claim a flag-fall, claimed it herself. Byrne pointed out that only the player on the move could claim a time forfeit. Since it was his move, he claimed the game himself. An appeals committee was organized to settle the dispute, which Byrne objected to. The committee declared that the game was drawn. Byrne then walked out of the match but returned later. He lost the match 7-3.
In 1957, Oxford University and Cambridge University drew their 7th varsity chess match encounter. Oxford led the total match points with 32 wins. Cambridge had 31 wins. There had been 12 draws. In 1953, Oxford was ahead for the first time since 1877. In 1972, Cambridge led the series for the first time since 1951. As of 2022, Oxford had 58 wins, Cambridge had 60 wins, with 22 draws. The first Oxford-Cambridge chess match was in 1873.
In 1957, Bobby Fischer won the U. S. Junior Chess Championship, held in Sand Francisco. He scored 8.5-0.5. Runner-up was Gil Ramirez, scoring 7.5-1.5. Fischer’s reward was a trophy and a typewriter. Ramirez received a trophy and a portable radio. There were 33 players in the event. (source: Chess Review, Sep 1957. P. 260)
In 1957, at the Maryhill Museum of Art in Southwest Washington State exhibited about 100 rare and ancient chess sets. The event attracted 800 visitors, the largest attendance since the museum opened in 1940. (source: Chess Review, Dec 1957. P. 358)
In 1958, after 14-year-old Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess Championship, he took a vacation at the Grossinger Country Club in Grossinger, New York. He gave chess lessons for skiing instruction. In 1972, Fischer trained at Grossinger’s Resort for the upcoming world chess championship. (source: Chess Review, Apr 1958, p. 102)
In May 1958, Bobby Fischer, age 15, appeared on the television show I've Got a Secret and stumped the panel, which included Dick Clark (his secret was that he was U.S. chess champion). The made-up newspaper headline for Bobby was "Teen-Ager's Strategy Defeats all Newcomers." Dick Clark asked if what he did made people happy. Fischer responded, "It made me happy." Garry Moore asked him how long he had been playing chess. Fischer responded that he had been playing since he was six, but that he had not been playing seriously until age 9.
In 1957, the first Chinese Chess Championship ever held was won by Chang Fu-Kiang. 22 players participated. Chess was not listed as a competitive sport in China until 1956. In 1962, the Chess Association of China was formed. (source: Chess Review, Apr 1959, p. 101)
In 1959, Bobby Fischer was so popular in Yugoslavia that a chess club was named after him. (source: Chess Review, June 1959, p. 165)
In 1959, Walter Harris (1941- ) became the first
African-American chess master after his performance at the US Junior Chess Championship.
In 1959, he was unable to get a hotel room where the US Open was being held in
Omaha, Nebraska, because he was black.
He later became an accomplished physicist.
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